Agreement reached over £11m legal aid funding rise
Agreement has been reached between solicitors' representative bodies and the Scottish Government on the allocation of the £11m package offered last year as additional legal aid funding.
The money was offered last July in response to the Law Society of Scotland's plea for a substantial rise to counter the crisis in the legal aid system caused by years of static fee levels and solicitors leaving for better paid jobs on the prosecution service or elsewhere. Ministers then costed the Society's proposals at £27m, or a 22% rise, which they said public finances could not afford. The £11m offer allowed scope for discussion on how it would be shared between the different types of legal aid provision, but always subject to the £11m cap, which there was "no scope" to raise.
The Government announced today that agreement has been reached with the Law Society of Scotland and the Scottish Solicitors Bar Association, on a package which "also includes support for independent research aimed at agreeing regular, evidence based fee reviews".
Under the agreement, which will come into force at the end of April, the structure of criminal legal aid fees will be changed to recognise the importance of early preparation in the swift resolution of cases. The move seeks to reduce the number of hearings, helping to address the backlog in court cases.
Individual solicitors will continue to have the right to choose which cases they wish to represent. The package is further to £3m announced separately in the 2023-24 Scottish Government Budget to strengthen access to justice for deprived communities and vulnerable groups.
The Society and the SSBA both previously described the offer as not enough to secure the future of the legal aid sector, and were canvassing members' views.
Community Safety Minister Elena Whitham said: "I want to thank members of the Law Society of Scotland and the Scottish Solicitors Bar Association for working with us to reach an agreement that represents a genuine and credible offer of funding.
"A review mechanism for legal aid fees in the future will ensure the ongoing sustainability of Scotland’s legal aid system. We will continue to work with the legal profession and wider stakeholders, to ensure confidence in this process."
In a statement following the announcement, the Law Society of Scotland described the additional £11m as "a step in the right direction" but called for urgent progress on a formal review mechanism to ensure the sector remains sustainable.
Pat Thom, co-convener of the Society's Legal Aid Committee, commented: “This is a step forward, but it unfortunately doesn’t change the fact that legal aid in Scotland remains in deep crisis, with solicitors leaving in droves and access to justice eroding at an alarming rate.
"We urgently need a long-term solution, not a band-aid that won’t even be taken out of its wrapper for another three months."
Speaking to the BBC, SSBA President Julia McPartlin denied that the SSBA had "agreed" to the deal. "The SSBA doesn't have the power to agree or accept anything on behalf of our members", she said.
"We were presented with this package that includes a small increase and it was made clear to us that we would have to make some concessions in order for them to go ahead with it.
"Obviously it's better than nothing but it doesn't really go far enough and won't address the problems we have with recruitment and retention."